The Yemen president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, said he would stand down in 2013. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

In a last-ditch attempt to stop protests demanding his resignation, President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen announced today he would step down in 2013 and that his son, Ahmed, would not succeed him.

He also said constitutional amendments proposed by his party would be frozen and parliamentary elections scheduled for April would be delayed in order to allow for electoral reform.

"I present these concessions in the interests of the country which come before our personal interests," Saleh said in an emergency meeting of parliament and the consultative council in the capital city, Sana'a.

"No extension, no inheritance, no resetting the clock," he said, making reference to ruling party proposals to abolish term limits that would have allowed him to run again.

Saleh's statement comes only 24 hours before a planned "day of rage" called by Yemen's opposition coalition, the JMP, which includes the Islamist party Islah, as well as socialist and Nasserite parties. Thousands are expected to take to the streets in cities across Yemen in protests which the opposition claim will be the biggest during Saleh's 32-year regime.

Saleh called on demonstrators to "cancel all planned protests, rallies and sit-ins", but the opposition, many of whom boycotted today's session, have hit back at the president, dismissing his calls as too little too late.

Mohammed al-Sabri, a spokesmen for the JMP, said the protests would go ahead. "These protests will eclipse last week's; hundreds of thousands will be demonstrating in governorates across Yemen calling for Saleh to leave."

Saleh's words echo a statement he made before Yemen's last round of presidential elections in 2006. "You are tired of me and I of you, it is time for change," he told parliament in July 2005. Shortly afterwards, thousands of Yemenis protested in Sana'a, demanding the president change his mind, which he did.

"We are used to Saleh breaking promises but the situation this time round is very different, after seeing what's happened in Tunisia and Egypt I think he knows it's no time for playing games," said Shawqi al-Qadhi, an Islah MP. "He has to be honest and end his political life in a decent way."

Saleh has tried to stave off popular unrest in Yemen by offering a series of concessions. After increasing the wages of the military and slashing income taxes, on Monday he announced the creation of a fund to employ university graduates and to extend social security coverage. He also decided to exempt university students from the rest of their tuition fees for this academic year.

Unemployment has been a primary issue for protesters in Tunisia and Egypt. The same is true in Yemen, which has the highest unemployment rate in the region at 40%.

"Waiving tuition fees will not stop students from protesting," said Rudhwan Masude, the head of the student union at Sana'a University. "The regime is out of touch."

Security has been stepped up in Sana'a. Today the streets were littered with soldiers preparing for demonstrations, the largest of which will take place in Liberation Square. Roadblocks are in place to prevent people smuggling weapons into the city, according to Yemen's interior ministry.

Plans for the anti-Saleh action have been circulated in leaflets through the city and in mosques. Another means of alerting people is a paid message service, provided by Sabafon, a big mobile phone provider owned by Hameed al-Ahmar, a strongman of the Islah party.

Saleh said he would provide protesters with water and the army would not use live ammunition.